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A version of The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) that passed through the House budget reconciliation bill would create a federal private school voucher program. This proposal is alarming – it prioritizes wealthy donors over the 90% of students attending public schools. Private school vouchers are harmful for public schools, particularly those in rural areas, discriminate freely against students, and have not been shown to improve academic outcomes.

The bill itself is costly: it will spend $5 billion a year in taxpayer funds, totaling at least $20 billion over a four-year period. However, the loss of revenue will be higher when considering the federal and state losses of capital gains tax. While legislators claim the bill aims to help kids, it primarily serves as a tax write-off for the wealthy.

The provision includes a capital gains tax shelter that would allow wealthy individuals to donate their appreciated corporate stocks and avoid paying capital gains tax on the appreciation, while also receiving a federal tax credit for the full market value of the donation. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), this provision could lead to a “120 percent match or more for upper-income families” and disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans, while decreasing funding in state and federal budgets. For example, ITEP calculated that if ECCA had been in effect a few years ago, voucher proponents such as billionaire businessman Jeffrey Yass could have made a personal profit of $13.3 million annually from capital gains tax avoidance.

The provision would make eligible all students whose families make no more than 300%of the median gross income. That income level would make 85-90% of students eligible in every state. According to the Brookings Institution, under this provision the “wealthiest” families in the poorest parts of the country are ineligible, while the almost-wealthiest families in the wealthiest parts of the country are eligible. As a result, a rural family would be much less likely to qualify for a voucher. Private school voucher programs already disproportionately harm schools in rural districts, which often have no private options. This proposal would hurt rural public schools while ensuring that families interested in private options will face increased difficulty receiving a voucher.

While school voucher policies may sound appealing, they prioritize rich donors at the expense of kids and schools. Instead of giving tax breaks to the rich, lawmakers must invest in the nation’s children and improve our public schools.

Events & Resources for Action

Public Funds Public Schools has a tool that estimates the public price tag of universal voucher programs in every state.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy offers a new resource emphasizing how the “House Tax Bill Enlists the Wealthy to Spread Private School Vouchers.” 

The post Alliance for Student Liberty: How the ECCA Hurts Public Schools and Benefits the Wealthy appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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Last week, Harvard earned its spot as the first major university to reject the Trump Administration’s conditions for maintaining its federal funding. The demands outlined in a letter sent to Harvard by the Administration include discontinuing all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, offices, and positions, implementing a comprehensive mask ban, disciplining students for actions the Administration deems antisemitic, and auditing the student body, faculty, staff, and leadership for ‘viewpoint diversity.’ Reports from inside the Trump Administration suggested that the letter was sent in error, but a White House official confirmed that the Administration “stands by the letter.”  

Harvard argued that the demands exceeded the Administration’s rights under the Constitution. Harvard University professors responded by suing the Administration, calling its threat to withhold billions of dollars unless the university compromises the free speech of students and faculty an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment. One professor also spoke out, saying that the federal funding cuts will “cost lives.” Earlier this week, Harvard itself also sued the Administration for its threat to cut funding. 

Since Harvard rejected the Trump Administration’s demands, President Trump has threatened to end its tax-exempt status, which is afforded to nearly all colleges and universities.

These threats represent another way in which the Trump Administration is trying to exert unprecedented levels of power over free and independent educational institutions. When President Trump signed an executive order last month to dismantle the Department of Education, he claimed it was to return power back to the states. However, he has also imposed serious unprecedented requirements on states and school districts that will increase administrative burdens and decrease freedom of speech.

For example, the Trump Administration wants school districts and states to confirm that they are not participating in “illegal DEI practices” as a condition for receiving funding. Several states are declining to sign. The Trump Administration has also issued executive orders controlling curriculum content and school policies, saying that schools teaching “discriminatory equity ideology” and schools with COVID vaccine mandates would be at risk of losing their federal funding. These are all examples of the Administration working to exert extreme levels of power over schools, all while arguing that its goal is to return power to states and districts. 

Events & Resources for Action

The American Council on Education has a resource page dedicated to higher education and the Trump Administration, with executive orders, agency guidance, and additional resources.

The American Association of University Professors has a resource page on political attacks on higher education, including several lawsuits filed.  

The post Alliance for Student Liberty: Harvard Rejects Trump Administration’s Demands on DEI, Free Speech, and Federal Funding appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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The Department of Education announced this week that it was firing roughly half of its workforce. When President Trump started his term, ED had 4,133 employees. After these reductions, just 2,183 employees will be left.

Attempts to eliminate the Department are a direct attack on children across the country. The Department of Education supports robust educational opportunity for nearly 26 million low-income students and 7.5 million students with disabilities across the country.

When asked whether the recent move was part of a bigger plan aimed at “total shutdown,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon replied, “Yes — actually, it is.” The Administration is moving toward complete elimination of the Department of Education without Congressional oversight or approval. Despite these moves, evidence continues to show that eliminating the Department of Education is an unpopular policy. For example, a recent New America poll shows that 55% of American adults oppose dismantling the Department of Education. Only 26% favor its elimination.

Even before firing half of its staff, the Department of Education was the smallest Cabinet-level agency. The Office of Civil Rights has been hit particularly hard by the layoffs, devastating many regional offices. This comes at a time when the Office of Civil Rights has received the highest-ever number of complaints per year for the past three years. The cuts also disproportionately affected staff at the Federal Student Aid office and the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the department.

Those in favor of abolishing the Department argue that the move will return power to the states without hurting students. But there is no power to return: States and school districts are already in complete control of creating curriculum and determining requirements. The Department of Education is the one-and-only federal agency committed exclusively to children, and it is an essential force for ensuring that all of the nation’s students receive a well-supported and equitable public education. It is responsible for flagging and offering funding and guidance for challenges in the system, such as the youth mental health crisis. DOE is also the most reliable reporter of homelessness among American students and keeps Congress apprised of new trends and research on this and many other issues that curb student success.

The Department of Education also enforces federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in school programs and activities that receive federal funding. DOE also provides vital grants and funding to underserved student groups. In an age of book bans, speech codes, the whitewashing of history and science, and anti-LGBTQ+, anti-diversity movements, these functions have never been more important. Perhaps that is the very reason the Administration is targeting DOE for destruction.

Events & Resources for Action

The American Federation of Teachers has an action page dedicated to telling members of Congress to oppose education cuts.

The Century Foundation has a resource detailing how gutting the Department of Education hurts students and families.

The post Alliance for Student Liberty: Department of Education Workforce Cuts — A Threat to Educational Equity appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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Happy Public Schools Week! As we celebrate public education, it’s important to remain focused on recent attempts to undermine it. It’s been a rough couple of weeks for federal education policy: we’ve had Linda McMahon’s concerning confirmation hearing, the onset of impacts from executive orders, and U.S. Department of Education layoffs and contract cancellations.

The Department of Government Efficiency initiative has begun working to dismantle the Department of Education, implementing cuts and freezes to contracts for education research and teacher training grants. Many programs have felt the pinch, including services for students with disabilities transitioning out of high school and mental health supports. These cuts were made days after President Trump called the department a “big con job” and said he’d like it to be “closed immediately.” The Administration also has laid off an unspecified number of Department employees.  

During Linda McMahon’s February 13 confirmation hearing, the nominee for Secretary of Education agreed to distribute any money Congress has approved and rejected the idea that she would violate any law. But the nominee also evaded many questions, including what would happen to specific programs if the Department of Education was abolished, and whether schools could lose federal funding for teaching Black history courses. Some of McMahon’s answers aligned closely with information in Project 2025.  

In the meantime, President Trump has issued new executive orders on education and the impact of previous orders has begun to surface. One recent EO would end federal funding for schools with COVID-19 vaccine requirements — despite the fact that K-12 schools no longer require COVID-19 vaccines and only 15 U.S. colleges do. The President’s previous executive order banning funding to schools that support diversity, equity, and inclusion, is beginning to affect Title I schools. For instance, the EO has put at risk a teacher training partnership between colleges and Title I schools in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that was designed to assist 24,000 students over the next few years. Community leaders are now working to raise funding on their own.  

Events & Resources for Action

The National Education Association has a webpage dedicated to sending lawmakers a pre-written message to oppose vouchers. Reach out to your members of Congress about protecting public education today!  

The Hechinger Report analyzes President Trump’s weekly actions on education and breaks them down in an accessible way.  

The post Alliance for Student Liberty: Challenges to public education during Public Schools Week appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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President Trump started his 2nd term by signing executive orders aimed at undermining the country’s public education system.  

On January 29th, Trump signed two executive orders focused on K-12 education, one that would redirect federal public school funds to private schools, and one that aims to eliminate “radical indoctrination” in schools.  

The first executive order directed the Department of Education to issue guidance on how states can use existing federal funding to support private school voucher programs.  It would likely be difficult to make any major changes to education funding without Congress, since the largest education funding programs are controlled by statue. It is unclear how much the Administration will push its power or how this executive order will impact existing federal funding for public schools.  

 
This first executive order also directs federal agencies to take action to expand school choice. It directs the Department of Defense and the Department of Interior to create plans for expanding school choice and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create guidance on how federal child care funding can be used for private and religious options. It also requires the Secretary of Education and Secretary of Labor to make recommendations for using discretionary grant programs to pay for alternatives to public schools.  

The second executive order would eliminate federal funds for schools that teach “radical indoctrination,” such as “gender ideology” and “discriminatory equity ideology.” The order claims that teaching about “unconscious bias” or “white privilege” promotes racial discrimination.  

Unfortunately, the immediate impact of this order is that it will likely spark questions and fear across schools about whether teaching accurate American history could jeopardize federal funding.  

As a result, many schools are likely to minimize discussion of discrimination in our country’s history. It is deeply concerning that students will be restricted in learning about topics that continue to negatively impact our country, such as racism. For example, according to RAND study from May 2023, White Americans hold ten times more total wealth than Black Americans. This enormous discrepancy results from factors such as discriminatory housing practices, employment discrimination, and disparities in the likelihood of receiving inherited wealth. If schools stop teaching history in an accurate way, students will be less informed and ill-prepared to fight against inequity.  

In practice, this executive order will be difficult to implement. Under nondiscrimination laws, the Office for Civil Rights would have to investigate any allegation, find a violation, and confirm that the school is refusing to address the violation. Schools also would have an opportunity to appeal any funding termination.  

President Trump also uses this executive order to re-establish his 1776 Commission on Promoting Patriotic Education, which was terminated by the Biden Administration. During Trump’s first term, the American Historical Association published a statement calling the commission “a simplistic interpretation that relies on falsehoods, inaccuracies, omissions, and misleading statements.”  

Events & Resources for Action

The Education Law Center published a Trump 2.0 Federal Revenue Tool that shows the projected funding and job losses if lawmakers cut federal education funding.  
 
The National Education Association has a resource page dedicated to protecting public schools. The page offers a link to contact Congress to push back against executive overreach and to learn more about the impact of the executive orders on public schools.   

The post Alliance for Student Liberty: How Trump’s Executive Orders Undermine Public Education appeared first on First Focus on Children.